Thursday, August 10, 2006

'sNice

Last week we went to ‘sNice with some folks from the PPK again. ‘sNice is located at 45 8th Avenue in Manhattan.

Israeli Couscous

I liked this dish. The couscous was fat and chewy. The veggies were cooked perfectly and had great flavor. This dish was really, really subtle (some would say bland but not me) and had a nice oil/lemon flavor. Sometimes it's nice to get a comfy, quiet dish. Or should I say "snice"? Har har. What? I shouldn't? Oh. OK. -Ev

Lentil Soup

I was feeling under-the-weather on Friday so I just got a soup. It was very sad, because going to ‘sNice and not getting a sandwich is like… um… going somewhere that has something really good and then not getting that really good thing. Anyway, it’s ok because the soup was just what I needed. It was rich and hearty. There were some chopped carrots and onions and stuff, but overall it wasn’t a very chunky soup. It was a thick, soupy soup almost like split pea, except it was lentil instead of split pea and it had a slightly spicy tomato base. I liked it and it was surprisingly filling. -Jim

Sesame Chicken Wrap with Thai Salad & Spicy Peanut Sauce

This was a dish I've always wanted to try but was too tempted by other things to get. Well, temptation lead me into its juicy, salty, loving arms this time around and I was happy it did. The chicken was firm, chewy, and cut into teeny pieces. The peanut sauce was thin but creamy and found its way in between the little spaces of the chicken so that every bite you got a good mouthful of it. I was glad that there was salad in the wrap because the chicken was really salty and the freshness of the veggies helped to balance things out. I was surprised how filling this was. I could only eat a little more than half of it. I was also surprised that my side salad had no dressing, but I was too smitten with my wrap to ask for some. I would definitely get this again. -Ev

Turtle Bar

Like I said, I wasn’t feeling well. But I guess I was feeling well enough for a dessert and a Soy Chai Latte. The Turtle Bar was interesting. It was dense and chocolaty with a caramel-flavored icing. The weird thing was that it wasn’t very sweet. The icing was, but the bar itself (while chocolaty) wasn’t that sweet. It wasn’t bad, though. It was just different. I think if they served this dessert on the original Japanese Iron Chef, the judges might say, “This is a very sophisticated dessert for adults” or something because that’s what they always say when desserts aren’t very sweet. On the other hand, I guess it could just be that my wicked summer cold was messing with my taste buds and I couldn’t detect the sweetness. -Jim

Vanilla Cupcake

And in this corner, the undefeated cupcake victor, ‘sNice! I wish I could paint a picture of the happiness these cupcakes bring. Although, I took a picture so you could probably surmise the happiness they'd bring. All that thick creamy icing that melts on your tongue. The cute little stars. The moist cakey heaven. God, I want one right now. How about this: next time I'll take a picture of me eating the cupcake so you can see how happy I am? But then again, pictures of people eating are rarely flattering. Pictures of me in general are rarely flattering. So I guess you'll just have to get your very own cupcake from ‘sNice and see for yourself how utterly wonderful they are.-EvI would just like to add here that Ev is very pretty and pictures of her, flattering or not, make me happy. Maybe I should take a picture of me looking at a picture of her eating a cupcake. -Jim

The Bottom Line

I was disappointed that I was sick and thus I couldn’t eat a lot of food, but I did learn that they have good soup at ‘sNice. I should note that I think ‘sNice has a soup-of-the-day kind of thing going on so I don’t know how often they actually serve the exact soup that I had. After dinner we met the owner outside. He was nice and Isa and Terry from the PPK talked to him about making vegan marshmallows. -JimI feel silly writing a bottom line because it’s apparent how much I enjoy going to ‘sNice. Instead I’ll use the space to shout out to Paula, and Eve, and Sarah, and Michelle, and the twin dudes, and our usual suspects. Thanks for a fun night full of eating and shoeless furry talk under the stars. Hugs to all. -Ev

I can't believe I had no idea that you guys were taking pics of food and getting ready to make a new post. I feel so special that I was there when the magic happened. (by magic, i mean magic the gathering) I really liked 'snice and I would highly recommend eating a sammich followed by a cupcake and an ice cream sandwich and then going home and eating ice cream sundaes.

Heh. Wish I'd been there. My wife and I love eating vegan in New York, and are trying to hit some top places and meet some excellent people before we go. I know it's kind of random, but we should all eat someplace great together before the two of us leave town.

If you're interested and available, our last night available for dinner is 8/14. 8/13 is a wedding (likely to be "not vegan," which sucks), so that's no go, but no solid plans 8/12, either. I realize that's last minute, especially since you will probably read this message on 8/15, but I thought I'd throw it out there, since I didn't see an e-mail. I should bug Isa about you two.

i finally got to visit ny this past weekend, and 'snice was the first place i tried...and it was wonderful! i obviously had to try a cupcake after reading your raving reviews and was sooo glad i did! thanks so much for this website!

I love s'Nice! I guess I have to try more than their sandwiches though. For some reason, I hghly disliked their cupcake. I had the vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and the cupcake was a little too heavy and dry and the frosting was just too dry.